PARK CITY (and all) SKI PATROLLERS DESERVE MORE.

[Hott Butt Mud]

It's pretty amazing to do all of this for $23/hr starting wage.

I wonder if they could just solicit donations? I'm sure some Park City billionaire could just make an annual ski patrol donation and call it good.

[schindlerpiste]

While I don't like to spend OPM, amen to that. With all the gazillionaires and trustafarian skiers in town, that is not a bad idea. Maybe, the union can somehow file for non-profit status, so the donors can realize a tax credit...


Here's the wait for 14% and a cost of +$300:

...and that's only for the Bubble. Triple it for the gonjala.
Photo curtesy of TownLift

[deeds]

Pretty indicative that they couldn’t even get tombstone open today…

[byates1]

$328 for a day pass to ski Park City today.

Lol. Jfc.

[Brownski]

What is needed is a National Union for pro patrollers. They could buy their health insurance through the union and organize separate locals either by resort or by company

[m2711c]

yeah, that sounds great! they could call it "national ski patrol" or some shit like that... if only such an organization existed.

[skiJ]

https://www.parkrecord.com/2024/12/28/hardline-tactics/

letter to the editor
in today's Park Record
( written by Jack Hutchinson )

[schindlerpiste]

Jake is The Man. People should listen to his wisdom. Everything he said is true. The only thing that could have been included is a more pointed request for [rich] members of the community to show their support. Although, I have an EPIC pass and consider The Canyons as my home hill, I will spend no more money on a Vail product, and will not ski at a Vail resort for quite some time. F**k Vail! I wish that they would sell PCMR and leave the Wasatch

[skiJ]

https://www.parkrecord.com/2024/12/28/hardline-tactics/

letter to the editor
in today's Park Record
( written by Jake Hutchinson )

correction -

Jake Hutchinson, not Jack.

( can't edit my post with this access -
I expect to with other access next week )

my apology --

( skiJ )

[Hacksaw]

Wow! That took awhile to read all the way through.

[Woodsy]

Jake is the man

So this thread has been hard for me to respond to as all my thoughts of skiing in the Wasatch and patrol across North America are filtered through and influenced by Jake. Everything I started to say was basically "my friend Jake said"

Unlike many of you, because of moving a lot as a kid I don't have friends since Kindergarten.
I met Jake when I moved to SLC the summer b4 8th grade.
He was one of the first people I got to know as his mom and mine were friends.

We went to High School and wrestled together.
We shared friends and one particular mentor.
I lost track of him when he became a Marine and we didn't reconnect until I came back to SLC from Aspen early 00s.

Lucky we are still in touch and he is doing well in CB/ Irwin.

As he said, he knows all sides of this coin and has much to share.

[Woodsy]

He shares similar in the letter but his comments sum it up well

"Scabs tried and failed to safely manage a handful of runs at one of the most logistically complex resorts in North America. Now it’s snowing,and the avalanche danger is rapidly rising and Vail will attempt to put scabs into harms way, managing an avalanche problem that took us decades to understand. I worked at this resort over 2 decades, I’ve been gone 13 years, despite my continued involvement in the avalanche and first responder world, I am not qualified to walk onto that mountain and perform patrol duties beyond a very basic competency, it has changed too much since I left and I would be chasing my tail trying to catch up. For a patroller of any experience from somewhere else to think they have the ability to keep guests safe is laughable. The arrogance of vail is unfathomable"

[BiggC]

I don’t know who has more leverage.

Vail already made their pass money and collected their non refundable fees for lessons and hotel reservations.

Patrollers can get unskilled gig work that pays the same as patrolling to make ends meet while they strike.

Skiers get fucked by Vail’s unwillingness to negotiate


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[brutah]

Skiers get fucked by Vail’s unwillingness to negotiate

This is the basic takeaway. They already got your money and don’t care

I think PC is the best resort in Utah and I won’t ski there again until they figure this shit out. It’s crazy for them to try to run a ski resort without their patrol not only due to the amount of people that ski there but also the avalanche terrain.

Just plain reckless

[Woodsy]

Basic takeaway is don't support Vail resorts

[Hood26]

He shares similar in the letter but his comments sum it up well

"Scabs tried and failed to safely manage a handful of runs at one of the most logistically complex resorts in North America. Now it’s snowing,and the avalanche danger is rapidly rising and Vail will attempt to put scabs into harms way, managing an avalanche problem that took us decades to understand. I worked at this resort over 2 decades, I’ve been gone 13 years, despite my continued involvement in the avalanche and first responder world, I am not qualified to walk onto that mountain and perform patrol duties beyond a very basic competency, it has changed too much since I left and I would be chasing my tail trying to catch up. For a patroller of any experience from somewhere else to think they have the ability to keep guests safe is laughable. The arrogance of vail is unfathomable"

This is spot on.

One trail merge out of place. One light pole pad not touched. One cliff lolly not placed in some out of the way place, in an area previously inaccessible because of low snow pack. One backboard not in the right spot.

Sure it’s all written in an SOP and a log book, but being written and being executed are different. I wonder if Vail thought about their agreements with their insurance company?

[MakersTeleMark]

Isn't Vail self-insured?

[Woodsy]

Not sure VR insurer or how much is deflected by the liability waiver on every pass, but I am sure PI attorneys are locked & loaded in Park City right now outside every ER & instacare.

Vail Resorts legal has got to be loosing their mind right now.

Also would not bet against the 50 year old + Marine with "hold fast" tattooed on his hands & a laundry list of reasons to dislike VR.

[Bunion 2020]

Unconfirmed report a Patroller was caught & carried in Blueslip bowl. Supposedly on IG.

ETA: https://www.instagram.com/alt_patrol...ltN2p2MDVkZTI4

I don't use IG so no idea.

[new yabyum]

Unconfirmed report a Patroller was caught & carried in Blueslip bowl. Supposedly on IG.

Keep us in the loop. Thanks

[halliday]

Isn't Vail self-insured?

From what I understand that is for health benefit claims filed by employees. VR uses United Healthcare system but VR funds much of it. Most large companies will self insure up to a certain amount to keep deductibles at zero. Basically there is a fund for deductibles (self insured portion of claims) and it's easier to manage? I worked for a large multinational drilling and exploration company that would self insure (pay the deductible) for the first million dollars for each incident in damages so this is no big deal to large publicly traded companies. Vail Resorts most likely has an offshore captive in someplace like Bermuda. VR operating units likely pay into the captive to operate VR liability and then the policy(ies) are sold onto the reinsurance market. Places like VR are not insuring themselves against anything, nor are they buying policies. they have the money to create their own entity and then re sell it to spread the liability and create profits for the reinsurance policy holders. Multiple mountains with facilities and chairlifts/trams are too big for one entity to write policy on. It's like an airline fleet or the World Trade Center. It goes into RE.

[halliday]

Anyway, the ski patrollers need a stronger union. Maybe something like IAFF?

[Rob Stokes]

A lot of the public think patrollers are 'just' first aid responders with a basic OEC course, at best they know some of us are EMT etc. At big mountains the tickets/qualifications that we have include-

Avalanche courses like;
CAA 1
Weather forecasting courses
Advanced Avsar courses
CAA 2
CAA 3
Blasting tickets- including individual certs in hand charging, linked charges, Avalauncher guns and Heli bombing
Transportation of dangerous goods in both land and air for transporting explosives
CARDA avalanche dog handlers (the commitment to this is insane, and year round, while only getting paid a standard patrol wage while at work in the winter. All summer training isn't paid and some patrols don't even pay for courses-insane.
Rope rescue courses-SPRAT and IRATA 1,2,3 as well as NFPA High angle rescue technicians and JI Rope rescue tech 1 and 2.
Class D fixed line long line helicopter rescue certs

This isn't even mentioning the many much more highly trained first aiders we have working here. Hell, we fairly regularly intubate patients on the side of the hill, this isn't just splinting OEC knee injuries. We were the first private rescue org to use Class D fixed line heli rescues in Canada and last year we executed one of (pretty sure the first actually) Auto pulse/Class D rescue, which is to say we flew a patient out of the side country on a long line while they were receiving automatic continuous chest compressions.

This is highly professional stuff and I am worried this is coming off as arrogance, but I am just proud of what we accomplish here....all for the staring wage of $21cad (14.57usd) per hour.

I also know I am preaching to the choir, thank you for all the support for patrollers shown here.

[Bunion 2020]

^^^ It is not arrogance. Those who know, know.

[FigureELEVEN11]

Anything happen?

Not sure I have a dog but the bloodsucker shareholders at Fail have made enough what more do they want? Don't have all the answers for there being peace in the (ski) valley for me one day.